President Donald Trump’s Executive Order Could Block USPS From Delivering Mail Ballots in 23 States

State election officials across the country are facing a difficult choice under a new executive order from President Donald Trump —  turn over voter lists to the federal government or risk losing mail ballot delivery altogether.

CNN reported on Wednesday, June 10 that the U.S. Postal Service has drafted new rules to carry out the order, which Trump, 79, signed this spring. Under the proposal, states would be required to provide USPS with lists of every voter set to receive a mail ballot. States that don’t meet the requirements could see their ballots blocked from delivery.

Twenty-three Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia have filed lawsuits challenging the order. Nonpartisan voter advocacy groups and Democratic Party leaders have also joined the battle.

“This would deny eligible people the right to vote. Full stop,” Tobias Read, Oregon’s secretary of state, told CNN. “It’s absolutely clear in the Constitution. States run elections.”

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., declined to block the order last month, allowing USPS to move forward with implementation, NPR reported on June 2.

With the midterms approaching, Democratic groups are urging an appeals court to act fast. Postal worker unions are also pushing back.

Brian Renfroe, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, said the rules could force mail carriers to decide which ballots get delivered. “That is very, very concerning,” he said, as per CNN.

The directive further calls on the Department of Homeland Security to compile citizenship lists using federal data.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told CNN in May that the administration “will continue lawfully enacting the agenda President Trump was elected to enact, which includes the safety and security of American elections.”

Trump has repeatedly claimed without evidence that mail-in voting is a tool for election fraud, as reported by Time Magazine in March.